Nobody Worried About These People

For those of you who are not aware, North Dakota and
southwestern Montana got hit with their first blizzard of the
season a couple of weeks ago.

This text is from county emergency manager out in the
western part of North Dakota state after the storm.

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a
Historic event --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of
"Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 24"
inches of snow and winds to 50 MPH that broke trees in half,
stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed
all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to
10's of thousands.

George Bush did not come....
FEMA staged nothing....
No one howled for the government...
No one even uttered an expletive on TV...
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.....
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House....
No news anchors moved in.

We just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people
out of snow engulfed cars, fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil
lanterns or Aladdin lamps and put on an extra layer of clothes.

Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen
this early... we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

Gold Member

The Virginia community that I live in burned to the ground once. Nobody called on Washington for anything; there was no "FEMA." Citizens united, businesses rebuilt, commerce continued. One year later the "Wonder City" was incorporated by the state.

It was 1915.

Now the first reaction to a catastrophe is to make it political and to make the citizens involved victims. We've lost our independence and pride, haven't we?

This is from Snopes in response to that exact email that is going around:

Origins: On 4 October 2005, portions of Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming were hit by an early snowstorm that knocked out power, closed roads, and dumped up to 2 feet of snow. Some schools were closed by the storm, and thousands of power outages were reported. The National Guard was called out in North Dakota to aid the Highway Patrol in rescuing stranded motorists, of which there were hundreds.

In Dickinson, snowplows led emergency vehicles that were used to deliver fuel to a nursing home and to the Police Department to run generators during a power outage.

Sam Walker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck, North Dakota, said of the storm: "It is, on our records, probably one of the earliest ones, as far as our recorded history goes, in 126, 130 years." But that wasn't the only surprising thing about the storm  only days before 90 degree temperatures had been recorded in the state (e.g., 92 degrees in Bismarck on 1 October 2005).

Midwesterners hit by this storm appear to have overcome their short-lived catastrophe without federal assistance. However, in comparing response to that weather-related disaster to what overwhelmed New Orleans, it needs be pointed out that the bulk of the digging out from under the snowfall and rescuing stranded motorists from snow-entombed cars fell to the state's police and emergency service workers and the National Guard, not (as the e-mail would have it) to rugged individual citizens who hadn't been "immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks." The nature and severity of the two disasters were different  the one could be coped with locally, but the other could not.

I have compassion and empathy for all who have gone through hardships due to natural disasters. Considering my geographic location and connection to New Orleans, however, the recent hurricanes on the gulf coast have more of an emotional impact on me. Call me selfish.

Gold Member

We are talking apples and oranges here. This isnt a contest! Both areas have endured disaster. This year across the nation we have experienced some amazing natural disasters. There are so many factors that determine how we respond to situations.

Pappy,

What was the point you were making? I am glad to hear that those who experienced the blizzard were able to be self sufficient. It is truly admirable. Not everyone is self sufficient... should we penalize them for that reason? Your comments seems to set a very divisive and negative tone. Forgive me if I have misinterpreted your intent.

Pecker,

What a wonderful story! Yes, it is unfortunate that everything has become so polically charged.

Leslie,

Thanks for putting that article excerpt up for us to read . We always need to have a rounded view of things.

Jana and Matthew,

Fight the good fight ! LOL!

Jacinto,

Sweetie, the fact that you even felt you had to apologize for being concerned about your region really burns me up. Your feelings are legit not selfish.

Gold Member

For those of you who are not aware, North Dakota and
southwestern Montana got hit with their first blizzard of the
season a couple of weeks ago.

This text is from county emergency manager out in the
western part of North Dakota state after the storm.

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a
Historic event --- may I even say a "Weather Event" of
"Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 24"
inches of snow and winds to 50 MPH that broke trees in half,
stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed
all roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to
10's of thousands.

George Bush did not come....
FEMA staged nothing....
No one howled for the government...
No one even uttered an expletive on TV...
Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.....
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House....
No news anchors moved in.

We just melted snow for water, sent out caravans to pluck people
out of snow engulfed cars, fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil
lanterns or Aladdin lamps and put on an extra layer of clothes.

Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen
this early... we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

Gold Member

Well, comparing a snowstorm to a hurricane pretty well speaks for itself. Last year Ohio had it's worst snowstorm in 75 years, but no one's home caved in. We were able to breathe, eat, sleep and all the basics. Not the same scenario at all. I went without power for a few days, but my blankets were all dry.

I was inconvenienced, but my whole life wasn't WIPED OUT PERMANENTLY! My money was still in the bank (which was intact), my car still ran once I replaced the battery, life returned completely to normal after a few days. With hurricanes, tornados and tsunamis, people LOSE EVERYTHING and it NEVER comes back. Is anyone really unclear as to why this is a problem?

We don't pledge funds worldwide to other countries that have snowstorms, but we do for hurricanes. I wonder why?

Perhaps the ignorant buttfucks who just want to call bush a hero are looking for ways to justify his ineptness and this administration's lack of integrity.